Is it still a trend if (almost) everyone’s doing it? No! So jump on the bandwagon now, before this cool cult movement too degenerates into something as simplistic and banal as the mainstream, just as happened before with niche trends such as freeride, enduro, anodised tuning or 24-hour races: bottle cap tuning.
It’s already a cult classic, the original YAWYD cap from Niner Bikes, and the feeling is sublime – belonging to that small, close-knit group who have found what is perhaps the ultimate way to personalise their bike by attaching the cap from their favourite beer to the stem cap – complete with a rugged rock ’n’ roll vibe.
That said, whilst it’s certainly stylish, riding a Niner bike isn’t actually all that important. And besides: The 29-inch bike is just another passing fad; these days, almost everyone rides big wheels, even downhill riders … Be that as it may, the message on the cap is what counts. And anyone who spotted the bottle-cap-style cap on a bike that was usually cool in other respects too got the message straight away.
YAWYD stands for “you are what you drink”, and for over ten years the Niner cap has been replacing the spare headset cap so that you can fit your favourite or team bottle cap onto it. It’s actually a wonder that there have been so few copies of it so far...
But they’re coming out now, and they’re made in Germany too. The bottle cap adapters from Zine Sports cost just under 10 euros; they build on the basic idea of the bottle capheadset cap and expand on its possibilities, allowing you to place the casual ‘Drink Message’ on plain suspension fork crowns using the Air Top Cap, or on unused derailleur mounting sockets using the High Direct Mount cover.
The simple aluminium parts are barely noticeable with their black anodised finish, leaving the stage clear for the real tuning stars – the sheet metal parts. If you’re still looking for inspiration, you’ll find it, for example, in colnet’s bottle cap catalogue at https://colnect.com/de/bottlecaps. Well then, cheers!
Sebastian Brust
Editor
